Faint of Heart

by Strand, Jeff

  There were enough spears for everyone.

  She thought about the game. If she was supposed to be following Gary's actions as closely as possible, then it stood to reason that both of the men were on her side. To match the original events, they needed a Gary, a Doug, and a Scott.

  Unfortunately, she couldn't count on that. She'd been alone in the bar, even though all three of them would have been there the first time around. At least, that's what made the most sense. And she couldn't imagine that any of them would have started a fight over football, so somebody in the bar would have been the instigator, meaning the kidnappers weren't that anal-retentive about duplicating the events exactly.

  Okay, even if one of them had started the fight, it definitely hadn't been Gary. So she'd played either Doug or Scott's role.

  She could be playing one of their parts right now.

  She could be the one whose blood covered the rocks. Maybe Nicholas was trying to save his wife.

  She forced herself to stop analyzing the situation. It was just too confusing. All she had to do was figure out if Todd could be trusted then take it from there.

  Rebecca stared at the fire some more, then came to a decision. She was going to let down her guard and go over and talk to them. See what she could figure out. Get to know them. If the three of them were going to survive whatever horrible events were going to take place, they had to at least start to form some kind of trust.

  But, of course, she was going to bring the spears.

  She tucked two of them under her arm, then picked up her log seat and walked over to their fire. "Mind if I join you?"

  "No, of course not, sit down," said Nicholas.

  She set the log down by the fire but still out of reach of the men. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long moment then Rebecca finally spoke. "If you're here to help me, you're not doing much by just sitting around."

  Nicholas glanced over at Todd, then back at her. "You're right. We just, you know, thought you looked like you shouldn't be alone."

  "Well, I appreciate that."

  Nicholas bit his lower lip and stared out at the trees. He was definitely not one of the bad guys, and if they could find a way to talk alone...

  "So how long have you two known each other?" she asked Todd.

  Todd shrugged. "About twenty years, I think."

  "Twenty years, that's right," said Nicholas.

  "How'd you meet?"

  "Our kids were beating each other up."

  "Actually," Nicholas corrected, "my son was beating up your son."

  "Yeah, with a bat. Real fair fight there."

  "It was a cheap plastic bat."

  "We've been over this thousands of times. Even cheap plastic bats hurt when you whack somebody over the head with them. If your son had a halfway decent father, he'd know how to fight fair."

  Nicholas chuckled softly, and Rebecca smiled despite herself. The two men seemed to have genuine affection for each other. She wasn't going to leap to any judgments, but she suspected that both of them had been forced into this. They were Doug and Scott.

  They were meant to die.

  She'd keep talking to them to get a more definite impression, but before long she'd have to take the risk and try to communicate about their situation. Maybe they wouldn't be able to work out a plan, but they needed to know just how much danger they were in.

  They chatted for a few more minutes about nothing important. Rebecca's impression grew more solid. These men were either long-time friends or excellent actors.

  "So Nicholas, do you like to fish?" she asked.

  "Of course."

  "I found a really great spot," she said, pointing toward the stained rocks. "You should take my pole and give it a couple tries, you'll be surprised what you'll catch."

  "Is that so? Maybe I'll test it out a little later."

  "Why not test it now? Just a cast or two. It's really great fishing."

  Nicholas nodded and stood up. "I thought I knew all the great spots in this pond," he said, as if suddenly remembering his cover story.

  He walked over to the pond and retrieved Rebecca's fishing pole. He wandered over to the rocks, stood silently for a few seconds, then cast the line and reeled it in. He returned to the campfire, leaving the pole behind, and sat back down on his log, face pale.

  "I guess you're right," he said, voice barely a whisper. "Somebody cleaned one hell of a big fish over there."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Having company made the day go faster, even though they didn't talk about anything important and left long stretches of silence in their conversations. Rebecca kept hoping that one of the men would take the initiative and try to discuss why they were really at the pond, but neither of them did, even when she tried to drop subtle hints.

  Todd went over to "test the fishing spot" as well, and returned even paler than his friend. They both seemed disturbed, but neither seemed surprised. She couldn't be sure how much they knew about the coming attractions, but they were both expecting to see blood.

  She almost tried to write a message in the dirt with one of her spears, but at the last instant couldn't bring herself to do it. If somebody was watching from the woods, it would be too obvious an attempt to break the rules.

  So they just waited.

  And then it was dark again.

  * * *

  "Is it an animal?"

  "Yes," said Rebecca.

  "Is it a mammal?"

  "Yes."

  Nicholas thought for a moment. "Is it native to Alaska?"

  "Yes."

  "How many questions is that?"

  "Only three."

  "Okay. Does it have hair?"

  "All mammals have hair," said Todd.

  "Are you the one playing this?" Nicholas asked. "I'm pretty sure you're not, but you're more than welcome to correct me if I'm wrong."

  "All right, fine. If you want to embarrass yourself in front of the lady by being an ignoramus, that's your choice."

  "Thank you." Nicholas returned his attention to Rebecca. "The hair question doesn't count, right?"

  "Right."

  "Good. Does it have fur?"

  "Hold on a second," said Todd, motioning for them to be quiet. "Did you hear that?"

  They all fell silent. There was a quiet rustling coming from the woods, but it was no different from the other rustling they'd been hearing all evening.

  "Another squirrel," said Nicholas.

  Todd listened for a moment longer, then nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

  "Maybe we should just not talk anymore," suggested Rebecca. "Keep as quiet as possible to make sure we don't miss anything."

  "No, it's not hurting anything for us to talk," said Nicholas. "That's the whole point of campfires, to sit around and talk."

  "Right," said Todd.

  "Maybe so," Rebecca admitted, "but these aren't exactly normal campfire conditions."

  "Sure they are. We're all friends here by now, aren't we? There's nothing wrong with a group of friends sitting around the campfire enjoying a nice chat." Nicholas glanced at his watch. "In fact, I think it's just about time for campfire stories, what do you say? Have you heard 'The Hook'?"

  "Lots of times," said Todd. "But you can tell it if you need to."

  "So there's this boyfriend and girlfriend, and they're out parking and up to no good. Then the radio says--"

  There was a rustling in the woods, much louder than any of the others. It continued for ten full seconds, sounding like somebody was trying to shake down a tree.

  "I'll go check it out," Todd said.

  "No!" Rebecca told him. "Don't go anywhere."

  "I'll just go take a quick look. I'll be fine." Todd was breathing quickly. Nicholas placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

  "No, stay here," Rebecca insisted. "It could be...it could be a bear or something."

  "I don't think it's a bear. I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be back in a second." Todd got to his feet.

  "Please, don
't do it!" Rebecca stood up. "Stay here by the fire. Don't go over there."

  "Really, I'll be fine." Todd forced a smile. "That's why men exist, to investigate strange noises."

  Rebecca stepped over to him and grabbed his arm. "Don't do it."

  "I have to," said Todd, violently yanking his arm away.

  "Just let him do what he needs to do," Nicholas said, his voice filled with concern.

  "You don't know what's out there!" Rebecca insisted.

  "That's why I'm going." Todd took a deep breath then began to walk toward the woods.

  "No, wait, at least take one of these," said Rebecca, holding up a spear. Todd nodded and she tossed it to him. He continued walking.

  Rebecca picked up another spear and the hook-laden shirt and then stood there, absolutely horrified. "Oh God...oh God...oh God..." she whispered under her breath.

  The rustling started up again, continuing for another ten seconds.

  Nicholas sat on his log, hand over his mouth. One of his knees was trembling. "Be careful," he said, though not loud enough for Todd to hear.

  Todd was about fifteen feet from the woods. He stopped for a moment, as if to work up his courage, then continued moving forward.

  Rebecca's muscles were tensed so tightly that she thought they might snap.

  Todd was almost directly in front of the trees where the rustling came from.

  There was a terrible shriek.

  An animalistic, bloodthirsty shriek.

  And then Alan burst out of the woods, arms outstretched, a hunting knife in each hand.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Rebecca screamed.

  One of the knives struck Todd in the shoulder, while the other slashed across his upper chest. He cried out in pain, dropped his makeshift spear, and spun around, revealing his bloody wounds, the knife still lodged in his shoulder. Alan grabbed him by the back of the collar as Nicholas jumped to his feet and hurried forward.

  Stephen rushed out of the woods, a few feet from where Alan had emerged. He held a shotgun. "Don't move, either of you!" he shouted, pointing the weapon first at Nicholas, then at Rebecca.

  Nicholas stopped, just as Alan yanked the knife out of Todd's shoulder and pushed him to the ground. Nicholas raised the spear as if he were going to throw it, but apparently realized the futility of the gesture and returned to the campfire. Rebecca remained frozen where she stood.

  "C'mon, get up," said Alan, kicking Todd in the side. "I didn't cut you that bad! Get the hell up!"

  Stephen walked over to Rebecca and Nicholas, keeping the shotgun pointed at them and stopping about ten feet from the campfire. "Just let what's going to happen happen, and you'll live through the next few minutes."

  "Minutes?" asked Alan. He gave Todd another brutal kick, knocking the man on his back. "I was thinking hours, days, weeks, months, years! World record torture times! Yeah!" Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke. "Scream all you want, bitch! Nobody's gonna hear you out here!"

  "You've got minutes," Stephen informed him.

  Alan tapped Todd gently on the face with the toe of his shoe. "Let's go, get up, you heard the man, we've only got minutes!"

  Todd groaned and made a weak effort to roll on his side. Alan gently tapped him on the face a couple more times, then started tapping his injured shoulder, and then stopped being gentle. Todd screamed in agony and took a swing at him.

  "Oh, no, no, no...no fighting back," said Alan. "I think that naughty hand needs to be taught a lesson. I think that naughty hand is going to get crushed underneath my shoe."

  He used his foot to roll Todd onto his back again then raised his heel high above Todd's hand.

  Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.

  "I think you should watch," said Stephen. "Gary did."

  Rebecca didn't open her eyes. She felt like she was going to pass out, throw up, and die of a heart attack all at once.

  There was a gruesome crunch.

  More screams from Todd.

  Laughter from Alan.

  Weeping from Nicholas.

  "I mean it, I think you should watch," Stephen told Rebecca. "I'll pull the trigger if those eyes don't open right the fuck now."

  Rebecca opened her eyes and turned her head. Through blurred vision she saw Alan grinding his heel back and forth over Todd's hand, as the man howled in misery.

  Alan began to howl, mimicking him.

  "Knock that shit off," said Stephen.

  Alan stepped back and scraped his shoe off on the ground, cleaning it. "You in the mood for a fillet?" he asked Stephen. "Yeah, a nice meaty fillet sounds delicious right about now." Alan crouched down next to Todd and rolled him on his stomach.

  Then he began to use the knife on his back.

  Rebecca's body heaved with sobs. She couldn't do it. She couldn't make it through this. Gary was going to die, and so was she.

  "I'm gonna kill both of you, I swear it," said Nicholas, his voice trembling with anger and terror.

  "Yes, I'm sure you will," Stephen told him.

  Alan continued to cut.

  Rebecca's body had lost all sensation, as if she were merely floating there, observing the events through barely focused vision. If Alan were to go to work on her back with his hunting knife, she probably wouldn't feel a thing.

  Todd, on the other hand, obviously felt a lot.

  "Move 'em out of the way," said Alan, running his index finger along one of the wounds in Todd's back and applying the blood to his own lips like lipstick. He made a kissy face at Rebecca. "I'm ready for the next step."

  Stephen nodded. "Both of you step away from there," he told Rebecca and Nicholas. "He needs to use the fire."

  Oh God...

  Rebecca's point of view shifted, as if she were moving backwards. Her legs were responding to her brain's commands even if she couldn't feel them.

  Nicholas stood firm.

  "Step away," Stephen warned.

  Nicholas still stood there. He looked as if he was ready to rush at Stephen at any moment. Stephen slowly shook his head.

  "I can't emphasize strongly enough the need for you to step away from the fire," he said, speaking at a near-shout to be heard over Todd's wails of pain. "If you make us deviate from the plan, we will splatter you!"

  "You already left the plan!" said Nicholas. He pointed at Rebecca. "She was supposed to die, not Todd!"

  Stephen shrugged and grinned. "Well, you were given a slightly different version of the schedule. Sorry about that."

  "What about my son?" Nicholas asked.

  "If you don't move away, you'll never know, will you? But I bet you can figure it out."

  Nicholas backed away from the fire, walking over to where Rebecca stood, about ten feet away.

  Alan put one knife between his teeth, slammed the other into Todd's injured shoulder for safekeeping, and then grabbed Todd under the arms and began to drag him toward the campfire.

  "Please...please don't..." Todd begged.

  "Should've asked sooner," Alan informed him.

  Once Todd was lying beside the fire, Alan crouched down next to him and picked up his good hand by the wrist. "I bet you thought that your crushed hand was getting the worse deal, didn't you?" Alan asked, thrusting Todd's hand into the flames.

  All sensation suddenly returned to Rebecca's body as if she'd been given a blast of electroshock therapy. She pitched forward and vomited.

  "Stop squirming," Alan said, punching Todd in the face.

  Rebecca fell to her knees, coughing and heaving. She looked over at the campfire and saw Todd frantically struggling, thrashing with such intensity that Alan was having difficulty keeping his hand in the fire.

  "Damn, this guy's a lot feistier than Doug was!" Alan said, bashing Todd's face against the ground. "Shitload of energy for an old guy! It's not gonna be easy to drag him over to the pond!"

  "Screw it, then. Just kill him."

  "No!" Nicholas shouted.